Bottle carrier



1937.; c. n. KEITH 2,094,744

1 BOTTLE CARRIER W 4 Filed Sept. 22, 1932 Patented Oct. 5, 1937 tUNlTED. STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,094,744, BOTTLE CARRIER.

Claude D. Keith, New York, N. Y. Application September 22, 1932, SerialNo. 634,386

3 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in bottle-carriers.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a bottle-carrier inwhich the lifting and carrying strain of the load is partially taken upat the neck of the bottle or bottles carried and a portion of the weightof the load is carried by the upper part of the carrier adjacent to thehandle portion.

Another object of my invention is to produce a carrier in which thestrain due to lifting and carrying the load will cause a movable member,preferably comprising an integral hinged portion of a bottle-carryingcarton, to engage and grip the neck or necks of the bottle or bottlescarried, relieving stress on the bottom of the carrier or carton andenabling a carton having walls of a given strength to carry relativelygreater weight. Another object of my invention is to arrange at theupper portion of a carrier or carton, a tiltable member, or members,operable bythe lifting and carrying strain of the load, and preferablycomprising an integral member having a hinged connection with thecarriercarton body, and provided with means-engageable upon suchmovement with the opposite sides of the neck of the bottle.

Another bottle-carrier or carton which will permit the display of thebottled goods carried thereby.

Another object of my invention lsto utilize as the bottle engaging orgripping means the edges of an aperture or apertures, preferably ofelongated elliptical shape, formed in the tiltable member or members topermit insertion and projection of the neck of the bottle therethrough,preferably when the carrier or carton is in substantially fiat positionand being thereafter movable by tilting of the tiltable member intoengagement with the neck of the bottle upon the lifting of the carrieror carton.

Another object of my invention is to provide handle portions for thecarrier or carton and to position such handle portions so as to preventcontact and grinding between edges of bottles within the carton when tworows are carried therein.

Still another object of my invention is to provide in a cartonconstruction a carrying handle comprising a pair of integral abuttingand vertically-disposed flange portions having a hinged connection withthe sides of the carton and provided with registering hand apertures,said flanges being arranged to transmit the strain of object of myinvention is to provide a liftingand carrying the load to the saidtiltable members.

Still another object of my invention is to providea carton of thecharacter described which will be formed from a single strip of flexiblematerial such as paper or pasteboard having internal parallel creasessuitably spaced apart to provide hinged connections between acartonbottom and. side walls, an additional internal parallel crease orparallel creases at the neck of the bottle to provide a'hingedconnection or connections for an integral neck-gripping member ormembers, and an external parallel crease spaced from the neck crease orcreases to provide a connection or connections for a carrying flange orflanges. v

With these and other objects in view, the invention comprises thecombination of members and arrangement of parts so combined as to coactand co-operate with each other in the performance of the functions andthe accomplishment of the results herein contemplated, and comprises inone of its adaptions the species or preferred form illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in whichpa Fig. 1 is a side elevationof a cartoncompletely erected embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1 looking in the directionof the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a view in plan of a strip of paper out and creased toform adouble row carton shown in Figs. 1 and 2; My

Fig. 4 is an end elevation showing the carton in loading position andhaving the end flanges bent up to receive the necks of the bottles;

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of a single row carton embodying myinvention;

Fig. 6 is a'strip of paper creased and apertured to permit erection ofthe carton shown in Fig. 5.

Referring now to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawing, which illustrates apreferred embodiment of my invention, l indicates a strip of relativelyrigid and creasable material suitable for erection into a bottle carrieror carton for double rows of bottles and preferably is composed ofpasteboard or reinforced paper. This strip is provided at its middleportion and on its inner surface with parallel creases '2-2 adapted,when the material is bent at right angles along the same, to provide abottom 3 for the carton, and side-wall sections 5-5' having hinge orfoldable connections therewith and bendable at right anglesto the bottomsection, thus jointly forming, what I shall term, the body of thecarton.

Thesaid strip I is, in the form illustrated, provided at opposite sidesof the bottom creases 2-2 and also on the inner surface, with parallelcreases 4-4: These creases are positioned to limit the length of thewall sections 55' to a height less than the length of the bottle to becarried and preferably to a height extending to a point below the neckof the bottle, and also to provide a hinged or foldable connectionbetween the walls or body of the carton and neck-engaging members orsections 'l|, bendable again in the same direction and in the formillustrated being bent in an inclined plane relatively to the wallsections. The widths of the members or sections 'l--'l' will bedetermined by parallel creases 6-6 depressed in the opposite or externalsurface. The neck-engaging members 1-1 each have ellipticallongitudinal-extending bottle-insertion apertures 8 through which thetop of the bottle is adapted to be projected and the upper and loweredges 88a of which are adapted to abut against opposite sides of thebottle. It will be noted that the said members 'l--'l, having a hingedconnection with the carton body are, when the carton is lifted, tiltedor swung about the hinged connection and in such tilting, the innersurface of the lower portion 8' of the rim of the aperture abuts againstthe outer surface of the bottle to be carried, and the outer surface ofthe upper portion 8a of said aperture will engage the opposite side ofthe bottle and the stress of lifting and carrying the load will cause apinching, gripping or clamping pressure to be applied at opposite sidesof the neck. of the bottle, thus greatly assisting in carrying the load,relieving the stress of the weight of the load on the bottom of thecarton, and holding the bottle in place in the carton.

Any suitable handle may be applied to the top of the neck-engagingsections 1'|' and in the preferred embodiment of my invention shown, Iutilize an integrally-formed handle comprising terminal sections 9-9',each of which is provided with a hand aperture 9a, and these flanges areconnected to said members by providing external creases 6-6 in thestrip. Ihese handle sections 9-9' abut against each other and theapertures 9a therein register with each other to provide a hand-hold orhandle for carrying the carton.

In the preferred embodiments of my invention illustrated, the loweredges of the wall sections 5-5 are provided with apertures 5a havingupper rounded top portions 5b and flat base portions 50 registering withthe creases 2. An aperture or window is thus provided which is adaptedto permit projection therethrough of a portion or segment of the base ofthe bottle, so that when the carton is lifted and carried, the bases ofthe bottles will be held against outward shifting. These apertures orwindows 511 thus cooperate with the neck apertures in aligning andlocking the bottles in fixed position within the carton so as toeliminate the necessity of providing end walls for the carton, it beingunderstood that even when the carton in carrying is raised and turned onits end, the bottles will be securely retained in place within the same.

In Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawing, I have shown a modified form of myinvention in which instead of providing a carton capable of carrying tworows of bottles, I have shown a carton for carrying a single row ofbottles. This modified form of my invention is in all respects similarat one side or wall to the carton described here above, being providedwith similar creases and sections which are indicated in the drawing bysimilar reference characters, the bottom creases however being closertogether. The opposite wall Sr is straight and vertical, the member Ibeing omitted, and is preferably provided at its lower end withbase-engaging apertures 5a, and at the upper end said wall is providedwith a hand aperture 9a registering with the similar hand aperture inthe abutting flange or handle section. In operation, the last mentionedcarton will carry bottles in substantially the same manner as thedouble-row carton hereinab'ove specified.

It will be seen from the above that I have provided a carton in whichthe neck of the bottle is engaged with a clamping grip by the oppositesurfaces of the neck engaging member or section, and that in view ofthis fact, the bottles are not only carried with less stress on thebottom portion of the carton than has heretofore been the case, but thecarton may be filled and opened up expeditiously. In loading the carton,the bot tom portions 3 and the wall portions 55 of the carton arepermitted to lie flat and the creases 4-4' which are preferably bluntcreases are first formed in the carton and the upper sections 1 are bentat an incline to the balance of the wall and bottom section. The tworows of bottles are then passed through the neck apertures and thehandles of 'the carton are then raised and brought together which causesthe bottles to be moved into upright position and to be held in thatposition. A release of the double handle and outward movement thereofwill cause a lying down of the bottles. In other words, the carton isopened and closed like the leaves of a book and in case of a double rowcarton, when opened, three bottles will rest on one side wall inhorizontal position and the other three bottles will rest on thewall'section at the opposite side of the bottom portion, the creases2--2' during this opening and closing movement performing the functionof hinges. If desired the flat handle sections may be provided with afastening clip In or the like to retain the same in closely abuttingposition and thus add to the neatness of the carton though such a clipis not otherwise necessary because the bottles will retain the sidewalls in vertical position and also hold the carrying flanges in loosecontact.

Having described my invention, I claim:-

1. A bottle-carrier embodying, in combination, a. carton comprising astrip of flexible material creased to provide a carton body having amiddle part forming the bottom of the carton and side members extendingoppositely from said middle part and foldable upwardly to form sidewallsof the carton at the lower portions of said side members and upperportions at least one of which forms a bottle neck-engaging section bendable into inclined relationship with said side-wall parts and in erectedposition extending across the necks and meeting the opposite side memberalong a line below the tops of the bottles carried in the carton, saidneck-engaging section having neckgripping apertures the entire area ofwhich is positioned below said meeting line and is spaced from thebottom of the carton a distance less than the height of the bottles tobe carried, said neck-gripping apertures in carryingcondition of thecarton having top and bottom edges engaging opposite surfaces of thenecks of the bottles below the tops thereof, while the carton bottomabuts against the bottle bottoms, said engagement of the aperturesproviding a gripping contact of the said edges of the neck-grippingapertures with necks of the bottles to cause a part of the weight of thebottles to be carried by said neck-engaging member, and said strip alsohav-* ing its free ends provided with hand-engageable means for carryingthe carton.

2. A bottle-carrier embodying, in combination, a carton comprising astrip of flexible material creased to provide a carton body having abottom part for engaging the bottoms of two rows of bottles and sidemembers extending oppositely from said middle part and foldable upwardlyto form side-walls of the carton at the lower portions of said sidemembers and the upper portions of both of said side members beingcreased to provide bottle neck-engaging sections extending in erectedposition of the'carton toward each other across the necks of the rows ofbottles edges engaging the necks of the bottles at opposite sidesthereof and being arranged'in erected condition of the carton to cause agripping eng'agement by said top and bottom edges of the neck-insertionapertures with necks of the bottles and a supporting of part of theweight of the bottles, and said strip being also provided with abuttingflaps connected to said meeting edges of said neck-engaging sections andhaving base portions positioned between and below the tops of said tworows of bottles, said flaps having registering apertures and serving asa carrying handle for the carton.

3. A bottle-carrier embodying, in combination, a carton comprising astrip of flexible material creased to provide a carton body open atopposite ends and having a middle bottom part of less width between suchcreases than the bottoms of two rows of bottles and side membersextending oppositely from said middle part and foldable upwardly to formside-Walls of the carton at the lower portions of said side members,said side-walls having, in their lower end portions, openings extendingfrom said bottom part upwardly for the reception and looking into thecarton of the lower-end portions of the bottle sides, the upper portionsof both of said side members being creased to provide bottleneckengaging sections having at their lower ends hinged connections withthe side-walls, extending in erected position of the carton toward eachother across the necks of the rows of bottles being carried, andprovided at their upper ends with meeting edges disposed between therows of bottles at a position below the tops of said bottles, saidneck-engaging sections being tiltable about said hinged connections upona lifting of the carton and having neck-insertion apertures the entireareas of which are positioned below said meeting edges, saidneck-insertion apertures in bottle-carrying condition of the cartonhaving top and bottom edges movable, upon a lifting of the carton and atilting of the neck-engaging sections, into tightened engagement withopposite sides of upper portions of the bottles, and

said strip being also provided with abutting flaps flaps havingregistering apertures and serving as a carrying handle for the carton.

CLAUDE D. KEITH.

